Bored?

I realise that the camera saga has been running since 4th March when I initially ordered a camera from a shop who wanted my credit card details, a scan of said credit card, a copy of my passport, a copy of my business start up documents & an extra 5€ to deliver to Skopelos. I was later told that they do not deliver to Skopelos and I would have to pay the courier when it arrived and finally, that they no longer stock that model anyway. It's been a fun ride!

Greece is not awfully good at marketing. The French can persuade you that their wine and cheese is the best in the world, the Italians can do the same with their olive oil and tomato sauces, the Danes are pretty good on bacon and the Swedish on home-assembly furniture, but the Greeks? Well they just expect everyone to know. They rely on word of mouth, bless 'em.

Similarly, the Greeks are not too hot on cynical customer services, they try, bless 'em, but they don't quite hit the spot. It transpires that Sony Japan returned my camera because I had failed to address it to an individual employee. Sony USA are masters at rubbishing their customers.

The saga continues. I received a call from Sony in Trikala to whom Sony in Larisa had sent my camera.
“What is wrong with your camera?”
“I can neither switch it on nor off”
“The battery is flat”
“Is the camera working correctly then?”
“Yes, it is working perfectly”
“Oh! Good! Will you send it back?”
“We have sent it to Thessaloniki for service, you should call them, this is their number”

So I called Sony in Thessaloniki and was told there was nothing wrong with my camera, why had I sent it to them?
I explained that I had turned it on, the lens had extended and the lens cover opened but the LCD screen had remained as black as a ceramic hob. When I had turned it off again the lens had withdrawn, the lens cover closed but the LCD screen had gone that dark grey colour you get when the camera is on but the lens is completely covered. I turned it on and off several times and the same thing happened until finally the lens would not withdraw and the lens cover would not close. I put it on charge overnight but no change. I removed the battery but no change.
I was told that the battery was flat and was asked if I had put a non-Sony battery into the camera.
No, I hadn't.
“Is it working correctly now?”
“Yes, it's working perfectly”
"When will I get it back?”
“We are going to run some diagnostic tests on it and will call you in a couple of days”

It strikes me that running diagnostic tests on a camera who's only fault is a flat battery is akin to having an MRI scan for an ingrowing toenail. I suspect they are denying the fact that there is something wrong with it but are trying to make me look like an imbecile. Except that doing so in a private telephone call with me at home falls short of public humiliation in a very big way.

I asked them to also check the cable if the problem was simply a flat battery when I had left the camera on charge overnight. They said yes they would check the cable as well.

I await further news.